Wednesday, May 25

Rumors about Islamic State retreating from Raqqa

Of course the Iranian military spins everything to put the USA in the worst light. Trouble is, the USA deserves to be a bad light in Syria, so many Syrians are willing to believe the worst rumors about U.S. intentions in the country. But from the following article one thing looks pretty clear: something's up in Raqqa, something big. Syria: ISIL Colluding with US to Leave Raqqa, Save Oilfields in Deir Ezzur, HomsTue May 24, 2016 11:31FARSTEHRAN (FNA)- The ISIL movements and evacuation of its forces and military hardware from Raqqa and their deployment to Deir Ezzur and the oil-rich regions of Syria have strengthened the possibility of a collusion between the terrorists and Western meddlers in Syria war, informed sources said.

"The ISIL has been transferring a large number of its forces and their heavy military equipment to the energy-rich regions in the Eastern Syria, mainly in Deir Ezzur and Eastern Homs, to save its revenues from smuggling of oil and gas," the sources said, adding, "The ISIL had previously made such decisions, including retreating from al-Houl and al-Shadadi in Hasaka where the terrorist group left the battlefields without any resistance against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)."

"The ISIL decision to leave capital of the self-proclaimed Caliphate for the SDF fighters and their American backers without resistance is in line with the US policy in Syria which opposes the Syrian government forces' rule and control over the country's energy-rich regions in Deir Ezzur and Homs," the sources added.

"The ISIL has thus far transferred 12 Hummer vehicles from Raqqa to Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzur and has deployed several US-made Abrams artilleries to the village of al-Hosseiniyeh Northwestern of Deir Ezzur," they added.

Informed sources within the SDF ranks announced on Saturday that the SDF fighters are preparing to launch a large-scale operation to end the ISIL terrorists' rule over the Northeastern province of Raqqa.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces that are mainly comprised of Kurdish fighters are ready to storm the ISIL terrorists' positions in the capital of self-proclaimed Caliphate," the sources said.

"In the meantime, the US warplanes dropped leaflets over the city of Raqqa on Thursday and demanded civilians to leave the city as soon as possible," they added.

[END ARTICLE]

The mention about the US dropping leaflets on the city first surfaced almost a week ago, if I recall.

Here's another article from FARS in the same vein as the one above but it too points to Islamic State seeming to get ready to abandon Raqqa:

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Syrian military expert said Washington is trying to save the Takfiri terrorists in Raqqa province by delaying the Kurdish forces' military operations against the terrorist groups there.

"The main reason for the US' insistence on finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis is to shun coordination with Russia to combat the terrorist groups," Syrian Army's Retired Colonel Elias Ebrahim told FNA on Tuesday.

He reiterated that the US has deceived Syrian Kurdish fighters by rendering ineffective assistance to them. "This has taken place with the aim of delaying the Kurdish fighters' attacks on Raqqa while the Kurdish fighters are behind the Raqqa gates."

This comes as other sources say the Kurdish fighters' impending attack on Raqqa has been put on hold because the US is coordinating with the ISIL to leave Raqqa without any bloodshed in a bid to save the terrorist group for future fight against President Assad's government.

Kurdish sources in Northeastern Syria said earlier today that ISIL's movements and evacuation of its forces and military hardware from Raqqa and their deployment to Deir Ezzur and the oil-rich regions of Syria have increased the possibility of collusion between the terrorists and Western meddlers in Syria war.

"What Julia Child did for French cooking, Pundita is doing for foreign policy discussion. She's opened a haute pursuit to ordinary people." - Caesar Rodriguez

"Few bloggers think as deeply as Pundita does. And few have her foresight." - Uppity Woman

"There is no other blogger like Pundita. She has carved a niche - part history and part humint - that makes any essay of hers a thing unto itself. In addition there are the sparkles of her dry wit sprinkled through her work." - Dymphna, Gates of Vienna